Driving arrangement for quartz vibrator timepieces

ABSTRACT

A timepiece having a high frequency time keeping oscillator including a quartz vibrator coupled through ripple binary dividers and waveform shaping circuits to a motor driving circuit. A pulse motor is operatively coupled to said motor driver circuit which also includes a sub-circuit having a monostable multivibrator. The ripple binary dividers and waveform shaping circuits are preset by a make-switch so as to produce motor driver signals for application to said motor driver circuit immediately after the make-switch is opened, while pulses are applied by said sub-circuit to said pulse motor during such resetting.

United States Patent 1191 Fujita Aug. 28, 1973 [54] DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR QUARTZ 3,643,418 2/1972 Polin et al.... 58/23 R X VIBRATOR TIMEPIECES 3,668,859 6/1972 Polin et a] 58/23 [75] Inventor: Klnll Fujlta, Suwa-gun, Nagano-ku, FORElGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS Japan 3,672,155 6/1972 [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Suwa Seikosha, v

Tokyo, Japan Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-U. Weldon [22] led: 9 Attorney Alex Friedman, Lawrence Rosenthal et al. [21] Appl. No.: 211,502

ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data A timepiece having a high frequency time keeping os- 26' 1970 Japan 45/] 18908 cillator including a quartz vibrator coupled through ripple binary dividers and waveform shaping circuits to a s2 U.S. c1. 58/23 R, 58/34 motor driving circuit A Pulse motor ii Operatively 511 1111. C1. .f G04b 27/00 P said motor driver circuit which also includes a [58] Field of Search 58/23 R, 23 A, 23 D, sub-circuit having a monostable multivibrawh The 58/23 AC, 3 5 R 5 310/15, 318/119, ple binary dividers and waveform shaping circuits are 126, 129 134 preset by a make-switch so as to produce motor driver signals for application to said motor driver circuit im- 5 References Cited mediately after the make-switch is opened, while pulses UNITED STATES PATENTS are applied by said sub-circuit to said pulse motor during such resetting. 3,363,410 1/1968 lmahashi 59/23 AC X 3,541,779 11/1970 Langley 58/23 R x 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures T! 31011, i T I 1 i i :1 5w i i i III I2 I o0* I I PA PR P5 P8 1 7g I r a 4v 0,: W a, I p, 47 4' 1 a Ff F2 7 F I 1 [7 D a Z b 7; #4 52 FR: 0 i a 6 5 1?: I i l R, i i i 4' 5 i L i 1 5 L Patehted- AugfZ S, 1973 3 Sheets-Sheet l Patented Aug. 28, 1973 s SheetS Sheet FIG. 6

MM FL FL FL DRIVING ARRANGEMENT FOR QUARTZ VIBRATOR TIMEPIECES' BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to timepieces incorporating quartz vibrators, and in particular, to timepieces incorporating divider circuits formed from complementary field effect transistors of the MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) integrated circuit type, and further, having a pulse motor driven electro-magnetically as the electro-mechanical transducer. Specifically, the invention relates to an arrangement for quickly changing the time SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a time keeping oscillator means is provided incorporating a quartz vibrator for producing a high frequency signal. Said high frequency signal is divided by ripple binary dividers and shaped by waveform shaping circuits to form a low frequency pulse signal. The latter signal is applied by a motor driver circuit to a pulse motor to provide time indication. A make-switch is provided for presetting said ripple binary dividers and waveform shaping circuits, said ripple binary dividers and waveform shaping circuits being adapted to produce said low frequency pulse signal immediately after said make-switch is opened.

The ripple binary dividers and'waveform shaping circuits are preferably formed from complementary field effect transistors while the motor driving circuit is preferably formed from bipolar transistors. Further, said motor driver circuit may include asub-circuit incorporating-a monostable multivibrator coupled to said'pulse motor andsaid make-switch so that said multivibrator is triggered to apply pulses to said pulse motor when said make-switch is turned on.

Accordingly, it is an object of the arrangement according to the invention to provide -a driving circuit permitting quick operation of the secondhand of a timepiece to permit the easy and efficientadjustment of time indication.

A further object of the arrangement according to the invention is to provide an-arrangement wherein a single switch serves as both a reset switch and a quick operation switch.

Still other objects-and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification and drawings.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement ofparts which'will be exemplified in the constructionshereinafter set forth,-and the scope of the inventionwillbe indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the timepiece incorporating a quartz vibrator in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed circuit diagram of one divider stage of the timepiece of FIG. 1 also depicting the waveforms thereof;

FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit diagram of a time delay circuit incorporated in the timepiece of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 depicts the waveforms at various points in the divider and waveform shaping circuits of the timepiece of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan schematic representation of the motor arrangement of a wristwatch according to the invention; and

FIG. 6 depicts the pulse waveform associated with the quick operation of the timepiece of FIG. 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. I, the driving circuitry of the timepiece according to the invention depicted therein frequency signal and the inverse thereof being applied to inputs 4 and of the first stage F of the divider circuit. Said divider circuit includes a plurality of series connected flip flops F F F F F, Said flip flops define ripple binary counters and are preferably formed from complementary field effect transistors (COS MOS). Such transistors consume extremely small amounts of electric power, and are particularly suitable for Wristwatches wherein the power available for consumption is limited. The output signal produced-bysaid divider circuit at flip flop F, has a two-second period for application as will be more particularly described below.

The circuit of one stage of said divider circuit is depicted in FIG. 2, along with the waveforms of the various inputs and outputs thereof. The input to said stage consists of a signal of a first frequencyd: and the inverse thereof a; Under normal operation, the circuit of FIG. 2 produces an output signal Q ofa frequency one half of the frequency of the signal applied to the input, and

a signal Q corresponding to the inverse of thesignal Q. A further input TR is coupled toinverter I .When a signal isappliedto input FR, saidinverteris broughtto a'high level toiproduce an outputsignal and thedivider stage is preset. V v

The divider circuit of block 8, ofFlG. I is connected to a time delay circuit D, a circuitdiagram of whichappears in FIG. 3. Said time delaycireuit is alsoformed of complementary field effect transistors (COS MOS) in order to minimize the power consumption thereof. A source voltage V,,,,, which is, generally on the order of l.35-l.5 volts in the case of a wristwatch, isapplied to said circuit. The input to the inputs of time'delay circuit D consists of the output signals Q and O fromdivider stage-F, as wellas the outputQ, from the divider .stage F, The output of time delay circuit D.are the. signals Q and the inverse thereof 6,, Asmore particularly shown from the waveformsoffFlG. 4, the output signal 0,, corresponds to the output signal 0,, of stage F, delayed by an amount equal to one p fie width of the output signal Q, of stage F,. The input PR is also applied to the time delay circuit of FIG. 3 for presetting thereof and for producing an output pulse from said time delay circuit.

The output signals 0,, and 1,, of the last stage F, of the divider circuit and the outputs Q and 6,, of the time delay circuit D are applied to the NOR and NAND gates defining the outputs 0,, O O and O, of block B Said gates and time delay circuit D define a wave shaping circuit which produce the complementary pulse waveforms depicted in FIG. 4 and required to drive the pulse motor incorporated in the timepiece according to the invention.

The motor driving circuit according to the invention is depicted in block B of FIG. I. Said block includes a preset switch SW, which, when opened, presets the driving and waveshaping circuits of block B, and produces output signals at outputs O, and 0,.

The motor driver circuit of block 8,, of FIG. 1 includes a main driving circuit consisting of bipolar transistors T,, T T and T, When preset switch SW is in the open or normal state, then the output signals 0,, and 0 are applied to transistors T, and T, and the output signals 0 and O to transistors T, and T to alternately render pairs of transistors T, and T, and T, and T conductive. The placement of each pair of transistors in a conductive state serves to apply a reverse current pulse to the coil L of the pulse motor of the wristwatch according to the invention as more particularly shown in FIG. 5, to drive said pulse motor.

As shown in FIG. 5, the wristwatch according to the invention includes an electronic circuit unit IC, a battery B and a gear train 3, 4, of which reference numeral 4 refers to the second gear. Said gear train is coupled to the time indication means, such as the hands of the watch. A pulse motor is provided consisting of a motor driving coil L, a stator S, and a rotor r. The rotor is preferably divided and magnetized to define six magnetic poles so that it rotates about 60 in response to each drive pulse of a one second period.

The principle of the quick operation according to the invention will be explained in connection with FIG. 1. In the normal state of the circuit of FIG. 1, preset switch SW is open. When said switch is closed, block B, of FIG. 1 ceases to function, except that oscillator B, drives all of the stages of the divider before stage F, and a sub-circuit in block B, defining a monostable multivibrator composed of transistors T, and T capacitors C, and C and resistors R R R and R is triggered. The output signals of said monostable multivibrator render conductive transistors T and T, of the motor driver circuit. Thus, a current pulse flows from point b to point a in said driver circuit through coil L of the pulse motor at the moment of presetting (the moment that switch SW is closed). The second hand and pulse motor stop at a particular second indication, having been advanced by one second.

When preset switch SW is opened, block B, is immediately operated to place transistors T, and T, of the motor driver circuit in the conductive state. At this time, a current pulse flows from point a to point b 4 vanced by one second. The quick repetition of the opening and closing of preset switch SW makes it possible to drive the second hand quickly by one second increments with each operation of said preset switch;

Referring now to FIG. 6, the pertinent waveforms associated with the resetting operation are depicted. PR represents the voltageof the preset line, 1,, represents the current pulses through coil L, and MM represents the collector electrode voltage of transistor T of said monostable multivibrator. As is apparent from the waveforms of FIG. 6, a current pulse is applied to coil L upon the closing of switch SW to the monostable multivibrator and upon the opening of said. switch from the circuitry of block 3,. This is to be compared with the conventional arrangements wherein a motor driver pulse is not produced at the moment that a reset switch is opened, but at a second thereafter, thereby preventing the quick operation process according to the invention, which permits rapid time-setting and timecorrection with a minimum of additional elements.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above constructions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

l. A timepiece comprising time keeping oscillator means including a quartz vibrator for producing a high frequency signal; divider means for dividing said high frequency signal to a low frequency timing signal; waveform shaping circuit means for fonning a low frequency pulse signal from said timing signal; pulse motor means; motor driver circuit means responsive to said low frequency pulse signal for driving said pulse motor; make-switch means coupled to said divider and waveform shaping circuit means for presetting thereof in response to the operation of said make-switch, said divider and waveform shaping circuit means being adapted to produce said low frequency pulse signal immediately after said make-switch is opened, said motor driver circuit means including main circuit means operatively coupled to said waveform shaping circuit means for driving said pulse motor in response to said low frequency pulse signal and sub-circuit means coupled to said make-switch and said pulse motor means, said subcircuit means including monostable multivibrator means triggered by the closing of said make-switch to apply a driving pulse to said pulse motor.

2. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said divider means and said waveform shaping circuit means are formed from complementary field effect transistors.

3. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said timepiece is a wristwatch. 

1. A timepiece comprising time keeping oscillator means including a quartz vibrator for producing a high frequency signal; divider means for dividing said high frequency signal to a low frequency timing signal; waveform shaping circuit means for forming a low frequency pulse signal from said timing signal; pulse motor means; motor driver circuit means responsive to said low frequency pulse signal for driving said pulse motor; makeswitch means coupled to said divider and waveform shaping circuit means for presetting thereof in response to the operation of said make-switch, said divider and waveform shaping circuit means being adapted to produce said low frequency pulse signal immediately after said make-switch is opened, said motor driver circuit means including main circuit means operatively coupled to said waveform shaping circuit means for driving said pulse motor in response to said low frequency pulse signal and sub-circuit means coupled to said make-switch and said pulse motor means, said sub-circuit means including monostable multivibrator means triggered by the closing of said make-switch to apply a driving pulse to said pulse motor.
 2. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said divider means and said waveform shaping circuit means are formed from complementary field effect transistors.
 3. A timepiece as recited in claim 1, wherein said timepiece is a wristwatch. 